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A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin

I like epic fantasy novels and series. I like knowing what happens next… and next… and next. The trouble with this is that authors of epic fantasy’s usually don’t crank out their books one right after another so I’m required to remember what happens in a book for long stretches of time… possibly years. Usually this is where John comes in. I screen books and give him ones I think he’ll like and he remembers everything he reads and can remind me of all the little (and sometimes gigantic) details I have forgotten. Unfortunately after he read A Game of Thrones and possibly the next one or so in this series he quit. He quit reading them because the author makes you care about his characters and then he kills them. Sadly it’s true, the chapters switch character viewpoints among a huge cast and Martin has an uncanny ability to turn you from indifferent, to actively rooting for them right before he offs them.

In any case I couldn’t count on John to remind me what happened in the last books, which was a problem, because this books timeline runs along side the book before (A Feast For Crows) so I actually was trying to remember what happened two books (A Storm of Swords) ago. I read those books in 2004 and 2006 respectively. I can’t remember a book I read last week, asking me to not only remember back to a time before children but to also recall what I read then – not happening.

For the first quarter of the book I was confused, really confused. I recognized names, some events were familiar, I had a couple of “OH YEAH he killed that king” sort of moments but it was pretty bad. By the time I reached the half way point I was mildly confused but had come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t setting this book down, re-reading the last two and coming back to it. Mild confusion and I were getting along fine. The third quarter of the book I was well enough in that most of my confusion was behind me and I was caught up in the story again. Then last quarter arrived and he started killing off all the characters I cared about, threw a few new old ones that I was supposed to remember into the mix and ended it with me wanting to know what happens next.

Would I recommend it? The series isn’t for anyone… the term epic should not be taken lightly… This was a 1,000 page tome and while lots of people died nothing got resolved and it’s the fifth book in the series. On the other hand it’s a pretty darn good story, from what I can remember… If you are brave enough to take them on start with A Game of Thrones.

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2 comments on “A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin”

The good news for me is that this series has been written and published and I haven’t started it, so at least any lag time would be my own. I am waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to write the final book in his Kingkiller Chronicles and hope it doesn’t take too long for me to catch on to the plot line again.

I wouldn’t hold my breath about the last Kingkiller book. I think that Pat Rothfuss knows better than to put out a bad book, and therefore it’ll be quite a while. Like Jessie says though, enter this series with caution. Form what I’ve heard, it is one of the best epic fantasy series of recent vintage (read, since the Lord of the Rings), but for as good as The Game of Thrones was, I couldn’t handle people I was attached to getting whacked. It’s a new twist that everyone else I’ve talked to loves. I just can’t do it.

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What on earth Jessie?!?

Don't worry, this just means that if you click through to Amazon from my site (try a picture of a book) and make a purchase I'll get a tiny commission. No extra charge for you!